Soon, wear a ring, log into Gmail

Tap any computer key, wear a ring, carry a cellphone - and log into all your Google accounts. Sounds far-fetched? Internet giant Google's experiments could kill off passwords in the near future.

The firm's security experts, among them an Indian, are experimenting with USB keys, mobile phones and even jewellery that can act as a physical 'key' to give users access to their account, and will publish their findings next month, the Daily Mail reported.

In the upcoming issue of IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine, Google vice-president of security Eric Grosse and engineer Mayank Upadhyay will detail what is basically a physical key embedded with a 'smart chip'.

"Along with many in the industry, we feel passwords and simple bearer tokens such as cookies are no longer sufficient to keep users safe," the duo wrote in their paper, according to technology publication Wired.

To log, users simply place the tiny Universal Serial Bus (USB) drive in their computer.

The firm is also believed to be experimenting with with the Near Field Communications (NFC) technology, already built into some mobile phones, and can even be built into jewellery.

"We'd like your smartphone or smartcard-embedded finger ring to authorise a new computer via a tap on the computer, even in situations in which your phone might be without cellular connectivity (using NFC)," the team wrote.